Sledding happened to be one of Asuka's favorite activities. The winters back home had always been ideal for winter sports, which Asuka enjoyed immensely. So when she experienced her first snowfall in Tokyo-3, she was ecstatic and wanted to experience it to the fullest. And since it was funner to sled with more than one person, Asuka wanted someone to go with her. Preferably Hikari, though she would make do with Shinji if nothing else.

Just her luck that the only person she managed to wheedle into joining her shared none of her enthusiasm.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"What's there to understand? You get on the sled, you go down the hill. I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"It's not the concept of it. It just seems rather futile. What's the point?"

Asuka exhaled loudly as she set her sled down; partly from exhaustion caused from climbing the steep hill, and but mostly from annoyance with her companion. She was starting to regret bringing her along. "The point is to have fun, which is obviously something that you are unfamiliar with." She looked down the hill and positioned the sled accordingly, making sure she had a clear path in sight. She grinned in satisfaction and sat down in the sled. Rei was looking down the hill, but there was no emotion on her face from what Asuka could see. Creepy as ever, she thought. "Will you get in here already?" she piped up.

Rei didn't budge. Asuka fumed silently, who the hell did she think she was? Especially after Asuka was kind enough to bring her along. The nerve. "Are you deaf or something?"

"I will remain here."

"What?! Come on, we'll go down faster if there's two of us. Who knows, maybe you'll even enjoy yourself for once."

Again, Rei was still. Asuka narrowed her eyes. "What are you, scared?"

"Don't be foolish."

"Ha! Called it. You mean to tell me you'll pilot an Eva, hundreds of feet tall, but you won't ride with me down this dinky hill?"

Silence. After a few moments, Rei walked over to place herself in the sled along with Asuka. She was surprised her taunts had worked, but she still smiled gleefully. Rei sat in back of Asuka, who was seated at the front end of their transport. She put her arms out on either side of the sled and began to push them both along.

"Yes! Get ready, we're goin' down!" As she said this, she pushed off the ground hard and the sled began its descent down the hill. They quickly picked up speed and Asuka had to grip the front edge. "You better hold on!" She called back over her shoulder.

The sled jumped, like they had just run over something, and Asuka felt a something soft pushing against her from behind. Evidently the bump had knocked Rei forward, her arms reaching out to encircle Asuka's middle. Flustered, she tried to yell back at her, but the sled picked up speed again and the resulting adrenaline completely knocked the thought out of her mind. They flew down the hill at an alarming rate, Asuka practically screaming with laughter the entire time.

"Up ahead!" Asuka heard Rei shout; sure enough they were approaching a tree, situated directly at the bottom of the hill. Asuka gripped the top of the sled and veered it to the right. They swerved away from the tree in time, but the sled was thrown off balance. It tilted over, and Rei and Asuka spilled out onto the ground just a few feet away. Asuka jumped up from the ground and shook off her hair, which had gotten a lot of snow in it. "That was great, huh?"

Rei didn't so much as look over at her, instead remaining on the ground and brushing some snow off herself. Asuka raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey, why'd you grab onto me up there? Told ya you were scared."

"My apologies. You said to hold on, and I thought that you meant I should hold on to you."

"Eh. Suuuure you did."

"I'm also not learned in controlling sleds, so naturally staying as close to you seemed to be the best option. You are very adept at it."

Asuka flushed, feeling flattered but not wanting to show it. "I-it's just sledding! There's not really much to it. I'm just good at anything I do, naturally!" she laughed haughtily to make herself feel more confident. Then she noticed Rei picking the sled back up and walking away. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Rei turned around with what Asuka could have sworn was the smallest of smiles on her face. "I'd like to go down again, if possible."

Inside Asuka jumped for joy, but outwardly she merely smiled coolly. "Ah, what the hell. I might even teach you how to pilot one of these things as well as me!"